I have already asked this of support so I know there is no answer but I wanted to raise it here for my peers to comment on as well.
How does Epic expect us to release major/paid updates?
Lets answer a few questions that for some reason are still asked.
Why do you need a paid update system?
We create tools and systems, not art and static content. Our products require ongoing development and support. Our customers expect future updates and dedicated support. This means we have an ongoing cost to doing business and that means we MUST have a recurring revenue model or we close our doors.
That silly notion of pay once and get lifetime support and updates only works with “consumer” products. e.g. things that 99% of people use once and go away, e.g. are consumed and disposed of. Software is not that, especially not professional software. We work every day continuously developing, expanding, refining, and updating for changes in the industry, practices and integrated technologies every day. And our customers rightfully should expect us to do that. In addition our tools do require support. We enable business with our tools, its not a fire and forget product we have to be here to support our users. And so we are here and we pride our selves on fast, responsive and effective support that you can trust … which guess what … costs money to staff.
In short if Epic wants FAB to be a professional marketplace it MUST support some means of recurring revenue be that paid updates or subscription models
(Screams in Panic) NO SUBSCRIPTION EVER
1st off … take a breath … count to 10
Mainteance plans, aka Service Level Agreements (SLA) aka Subscription plans … are NOT the hell scape that Adobe and others have scared you with
That is SaaS (Software as a Service) its a horrible predatory model that should have never happened but here we are.
A proper, professional subscription model as we have used in software for decades. DOES NOT remove your ability to use your software when you cancel/end your subscription. You are “subscribing” to the “services” of updates and or support … your license to use the software is perpetual… Because Software … is NOT a service … its a product. It does however have services that attach to it and professional software NEEDs those services.
This is NOT a new concept.
This is how professional software has ALWAYS worked and still works to this day. You license the software and you have a “maintenance plan” or “SLA” where you pay the publisher or sometimes a “partner” to provide you with support and updates for X period of time. Its optional you dont have to pay it … not paying doesn’t mean you cant use the software … it just means you wont be getting updates or support.
Major Update is honestly just a subscription plan you cant plan for.
With a subscription plan you know ahead of time when it starts, when it ends, when it bills.
With Major Update you have no clue when the next major will release because its not defined. could be 6 months, could be 5 years, who the F knows …
Now if your doing an annualized release … ya that isn’t a Major Update … that is a yearly subscription where you force everyone to update on the same day no matter when they started.
so the best model is a Maintenance Subscription. This is the most fair for the consumer and its the simplest for the publisher.
Major Update is easier for the platform/distributor but for the consumer and publisher, this is more work and less cost effective.
Why?
well we do our major changes Nov 1
Lets say you purchased our tool around July
Okay so what you get a few months and have to upgrade to the next major?
well that’s rude so fine we offer a grace period next major is free … em okay so now you feel like you should purchase Nov 2nd or whoever the grace period starts so you get 24-18 months between first major.
See where this is going?
A major update / paid update system is just a half-arsed subscription model, only you dont get to decide when it starts and stops you have to do it in blocks of whatever the release schedule is and if you miss day 1 well you just lost that time on your fist generation that’s all.
Bringing it Back to the Question
So Epic … how is it you expect us to do a Major Update / Paid Update / Maintenance Subscription?
It has to happen that isn’t an option, you have no facility for it … so should we just be telling our customers to not use FAB since we cant release major updates there? or should be directing people from FAB to us directly cutting you out of the equation?
Right now FAB is incomplete and cant be used for professional software … but its competition can … so fix that!